b is for birthday rituals

at the beginning of the year we added stickers, ribbon, fabric and tape to our birthday chair. this chair waits at circle time until there is a birthday to celebrate. when there is, the ritual is always the same:

first the preschooler gets a sticker with his/her birthdate on it. they can put it on or save it. then we count out the number of cupcakes per year.

then we write the numbers and say things like, “when you were one you were probably learning to stand up and maybe say things like mama or dada. when you were two you were almost for sure walking and falling down a lot. when you were three you started coming to preschool. the last time we saw you you were four and today you are five!”

then comes the most exciting part of all. the birthday child sits in the birthday chair and answers the question: do you want the chair to fly? if so, up comes mr. rob. it is music that powers the birthday chair, so we have to start singing “happy birthday.”

then the chair flies!

it’s fun to look up since we have mirrors on the ceiling at circle time. i always hope mr rob doesn’t hurt his back.

we countdown from their new age and the chair lands.

then it is snack time. we always listen to tom chapin’s version of happy birthday.

the birthday child sits in the birthday chair and eats. ahhhhhh, we love birthday days.

yes! i think he does too. a couple of preschools i’ve visited over the years have had their own versions of birthday chairs as well. i will say this is the first year we’ve been able to make it fly. i fear that without mr rob, no amount of singing could make it go.